Horsemen of the Apocalypse
by Konstantinsen
Summary: Pina never thought she would be in a position to bargain for her people's survival. But after the Empire provoked a more agile, more versatile, and more brutal enemy from beyond the Gate, she found herself reasoning with these riders whose horses were faster, whose arrows could blot out the sun, and who carried sticks that breathed dragon's fire.
1. In the Presence of My Enemies

**NOTE: Hi again. I was playing _Civilization III: Conquests_ recently and I couldn't help but try out this scenario. I'm also going to try to use Pina's perspective. I hope you guys like it. If not, it's cool. I haven't written a second chapter yet as of this posting so...yeah.**

 **Also, I took a few liberties here such as changing a few names to make them sound more Latin/Roman as well as flipping some historical roles to try to fit them into the story. It might work, it might not. Let me know what you think. :)**

* * *

 **EDIT (August 19, 2017): I've decided to try to move this story forward. I also made a few minor edits here.**

* * *

Pina had always anticipated the day when she would have to give up everything just to save her country. Now, hundreds of miles away from home, deep in the heart of an entirely different world, she felt the very reality of this very day weigh heavily on her heart. She was going to give herself away in the presence of her enemies. All for the sake of her people.

The Kurultai fell into silence. The many noyans—princes and high nobles—held their breath. From his ornate throne, the Khagan leaned forward to hear her defense.

"Mighty one, I can only ask for your forgiveness on behalf of my country," Pina began. "My people acted foolishly."

She paused. She could hear some of the noyans snicker. A wave of the Khagan's hand brought quiet to the hall. Then he motioned for her to continue.

"I admit that what we did was a declaration of war. But I have initiated the first steps to restoring peace." Pina glanced behind her, at her liaison, a lowly enemy commander now friend. Heads turned as well and she knew she might have possibly damned him as well. "I am sure you are aware of the non-aggression pact I signed with your general. I am aware that this is a fickle agreement. I can only hope and pray that you have mercy on us."

Pina forgot the rest of the words that flowed from her mouth. But by the time she was done, she felt the air around her constrain her breath. The Khagan only stared at her, his fierce eyes flickering with a fire akin to a raging forge. It was the tensest moment in her whole life.

Someone was already speaking in their tongue. It was her friend, her translator, the lowly commander Tami. And she trusted that he used the proper words to convey her message in the proper tone. As soon as he finished, the court flared into a flurry as the noyans began raising their voices in response.

She eyed the throngs of keshiks present. The fearfulness of their ornate bows were seconded by the staves they carried—mysterious weapons made of wood and steel that shot dragon's fire. It was those very staves that reduced whole cohorts to cinders. When their swords wouldn't cut through armor, when their hail of arrows failed to finish the job, they would resort to their staves. And sometimes, a barrage of distant thunder would rock the battlefield to be followed by the whistling death that rained from the sky, ripping up the earth and decimating scores of troops.

These horror stories played in her mind as the Kurultai deliberated around them. Pina was itching to say something when she felt a tug at her sleeve. She looked to see Tami who somberly nodded. She deflated; she had done all she could. The rest was up to the gods.

And so Pina waited. And waited. And waited. Until the voices died down and the Khagan stood up. He spoke like her father—powerful but somehow comforting. Tami translated his verdict.

The scribe who was present in the court later recorded that the Saderan princess could barely contain herself upon hearing the Khagan's response.

* * *

 _Six months earlier..._

Pina was training with her aides in the barracks of the Praetorian Guard when the news reached her that the Imperial Army had crossed the Gate at Alnus Hill and made significant gains in the new world. Unlike the men who were sparring in the yard, the princess of the Saderan Empire felt the least joy at the fact that her country was once again aggressively dominating another. If anyone were to ask her, she would rather forge alliances over making vassals.

She wasn't particularly surprised when her brothers Zorzal and Diabo marched through the Gate shortly thereafter. Then returning with batches of slaves towed in chains to the capital. It was an Imperial tradition that went back centuries. Pina never really admired her country's destiny doctrine, let alone the prevalent belief in the superiority of her nation over others. She always had that gut feeling that someday, somehow, the Empire would get a taste of its own medicine.

And it did. A week after the first crossing, both princes scrambled through the Gate looking as though they had been through a serious fight. Or rather lost said fight to an enemy army. And it was true.

Pina immediately rushed to her brothers' care when they reached the capital. Both were bleeding from grievous wounds. The plates on their armor were mired with holes while their mounts, layered as they were in thick mail, barely survived the numerous arrows that jutted out of their hides. The rest of the Imperial Legion that followed suit looked even worse.

"Zorzal, Diabo, what happened?" she asked time and again.

Diabo admitted total defeat while Zorzal, in an attempt to protect what little of his inflated pride was left, insisted that they were taken by surprise and executed a tactical retreat. Pina understood from both that they were lucky to have escaped in time.

* * *

Emotions at the Senate were a bubbling cauldron of anger, despair, and denial and Pina had to sit through the maelstrom just to try and gather a reasonable consensus for this military catastrophe.

"Out of the dozen legions that were marshaled through the Gate, only two came back and yet neither could barely fight another battle!" a senator raved.

"None of the legates, not even Magister Militum Colitus Formali, have returned. The Imperial Legion is finished!" another groveled.

"These barbarians have reclaimed what was taken from them. And now they are marching to the Gate to cross into Falmart, into the heart of the Empire itself!" a third raged.

Of course, the princess kept her thoughts to herself but had to bite down on her own anxiety. The atmosphere in the forum was toxic. Several times she looked to her father for his say only to see him keep mum and weather the storm. What beast could the Empire have disturbed that was capable of quickly reducing them to near military impotence?

* * *

She found out a month later when messengers scrambled back to the capital from Alnus Hill. The bulk of the Imperial Army—over twenty legions and scores of their beast-folk auxiliaries—had amassed to dislodge the barbarians from the sacred site. The result was a massacre. Thousands of Imperial troops were lost to these "horsemen from the depths of oblivion" whose speed was unmatched, whose arrows blot out the sun and whose staves breathed fire like dragons. Thousands were slain, the rest captured and most probably enslaved. Or worse.

Almost immediately after word reached the Senate, her father called upon the Empire's allies to join the fight to save Falmart from these foreign invaders. As many expected, many heeded the call. And few expected, they too were annihilated. Alnus Hill had become a mountain of corpses.

In the aftermath of the carnage, Pina could only speculate. Who were these riders? What kind of weapons did they field? Was it true that they had more mounts than men?

She felt useless pacing around in the halls of the Imperial Palace. Until she was summoned by her father.

"I am sending you to Alnus Hill," he ordered. "I trust your skills would help you discern a weakness in our enemy's flanks. Take this as an opportunity to prove to me that your little Order of the Scarlet Rose is more than just a plaything of yours."

Pina could barely control her emotions upon hearing that. She was never really good at keeping it together. But her father was right. This was her chance. Enough with being honor guards and all that ceremonial, 'special reserve', Praetorian trash. Dangerous as these barbarians may be, they would be the proving ground for her knights. And if it came to it, it would be their first real battle against a real army. A battle she hoped would not come to pass because she also believed the reports about them.

She had read the official missives, she visited the wounded, talked to the survivors, held the serrated arrows and the bits of steel that were pulled from their battered bodies. There was no denying how deadly powerful these barbarians had proven themselves to be. Her Order was barely numbered five cohorts but could defend against three times their number. But these were no legions, they said. It was a horde. And they destroyed whole legions in open battle.

"Princess, your father sent us all to die," sneered the King Duran of Elbe, once a tower of man now reduced to a cripple lacking an arm and a leg. "He knew ahead of time what had happened to the Imperial Legion. He knew Alnus Hill was a lost cause. He knew that we would hurl ourselves against them. But only he knew that we stood no chance."

"I don't understand," she stammered.

"Princess, your father knew that the Empire lost its army. Without an army to defend itself, the Empire would be at the mercy of its own allies. Do you not see the logic in these politics?"

"Your highness, I'm sorry!"

"Don't waste your sympathy on me or my dead men. You're better off running and hiding before the horsemen get you."

And with that, Pina was forced to leave the man to lick his wounds in peace. If there was any way of reasoning with these 'horsemen of the apocalypse', she would have to find out by herself. And she hoped that in the process she wouldn't end up like her brothers. Or worse.

* * *

 **ORIGINALLY DRAFTED: August 1, 2017**

 **LAST EDITED: August 19, 2017**

 **INITIALLY UPLOADED: August 8, 2017**


	2. Crisis in Italica

Italica was the closest city to Alnus Hill and Pina knew well enough how strategic it was in the event of a war this deep in Imperial territory. Losing it would create a salient from where enemy troops could strike the capital itself. Yet, for some reason, the barbarians were keeping to Alnus with only scouting forays into the surrounding countryside.

The wildfire of gossip, however, ranged between far-fetched and believable. The barmaid at the tavern, for one, droned on and on about how the so-called 'Mongols' offered gifts to the outlying hamlets including miraculous medicine that bested what most healers and apothecaries could give. She vividly described their mounts, their unique blend of armor, their strange bows and staves, their language and behavior.

Of course, there was the loud chorus of disbelief amid demands for more ale. But Pina knew there was a kernel of truth amid all her babbling. So she called the her over.

"Could please tell us more about these Mongols?" she asked. "And please, be truthful."

The barmaid recognized the crests on their breastplates and bowed solemnly. Even then, she was bustling with excitement as she narrated everything she claimed she had witnessed first hand. By the time she reached the tale of how she ended up working in a tavern, Pina's scribe Hamilton had already filled three full pages on her ledger.

"Pardon me for asking, your grace, but have you come from the capital?" the barmaid suddenly interjected.

Pina nodded. "You could say that, yes."

"I see." The barmaid looked around before leaning in to whisper. "Your grace, whether or not you believe what I have been saying, I must discourage any plans you have of traveling to Alnus. The Mongols are not very receptive to those they don't consider friendly."

"And the villagers they kidnapped from the towns are friendly?" Norman sneered.

"From what I've heard, they weren't kidnapped, sir," she protested. "They were rescued."

"Rescued?"

"Evacuated," Grey corrected. "The Inidraco has awoken rather early. It was already causing havoc in Elbe before the Imperial Army marched through the Gate."

"The ancient fire dragon?"

Norman sighed. "If you ask me, it would have been better if our legions focused on putting it down before crossing the Gate. I mean, the safety of our people should take precedence over fulfilling destiny. The Gate has always been there. It's not like the gods make it disappear immediately thereafter."

Grey nodded. "Alas, here we are."

"So the Mongols emptied the villages of our citizens to protect them from the Inidraco," Pina mused. The barmaid furiously nodded in approval. "Why?"

"Curry favor? Thinly-veiled slavery?"

"If I may," the barmaid interjected. "but the villagers were not forced, really. All of them insisted to shelter among the Mongols. In fact, the commander of the scouting party was so reluctant they had to give him gifts to convince him."

Pina gawked at her. It didn't make sense. King Duran of Elbe had given her a very dark image of these barbarians. Now the locals here in Italica—the largest trading hub in the region—were babbling about how benevolent the foreigners were. It sounded too good to be true.

The princess was about to inquire when horns resounded from the streets, bringing a heavy silence to the tavern. Not long thereafter, a herald burst through the doors with his gladius drawn.

"Large enemy force coming from the east! To arms!"

* * *

It was a good thing Italica was home to many legion veterans. Their help was invaluable to mobilizing the peasant levies and raising a bulwark behind the west gantry. Pina, who had been accorded total authority over the city's defenders after finding out that the city's current reagent was only eleven years old, put all her years of military study to practice.

First, she had to know who the enemy was. It was not easy to rule out the Mongols—there were so many reasons for them to take the city. But when she ascended the battlements to rally the archers, she saw that the enemy brandished Imperial equipment. Bandits, deserters, survivors of Alnus Hill; all of them coalesced into a crack legion hungry for a bloody fight.

Although relieved, Pina was now faced with the reality of putting her own citizens—rebellious as they may be—to the sword. Her father had always lectured her on the justifications for the use of the carrot and stick. Her brothers were quick to embrace it. But Pina was always that one exception who yearned for a more diplomatic alternative.

On this day, however, there was none.

"Grey! Norman! Get down there and hold the gates!" Pina barked. "Hamilton, you're with me! Grab your bow!"

This was not the first time the princess took a life in an engagement. She had faced bandits before. Isolated incidents that needed a swift resolution. But she had to admit, this was her first battle against an organized enemy force, many of whom were trained in a military barracks and had at least a year of field experience. In contrast, all she had was herself, eight of her own knights, a few contubernia of loyal yet aged legion veterans, and hundreds of reluctant, inexperienced levies.

Pina hoped that all those lessons from Grey and the other retired generals would come through.

* * *

"Your highness, you have our sincerest gratitude," thanked an elder legionnaire. "Your leadership helped us through this day."

"It is our duty. Get some rest," she said tiredly. She turned to the rest of the defenders—battered, tired, wounded, but victorious—and yelled, "I have already sent word for reinforcements. At best, they could get here in two days. Until then, be steadfast. I have assigned rotational shifts for the men on the walls. Report to your decanii for further instructions. Get some rest while you can. These traitors will be back."

Hamilton was already organizing the relief effort for the wounded while Grey oversaw the gathering of the dead. Norman and some of the other knights busied themselves with the craftsmen, repairing and procuring weapons. Pina could finally take a nap.

Her first serious defense against an enemy army ended in her favor but at the cost of her own personal strength. If she could barely keep up against her own countrymen, how much more if ever the Mongols would come knocking with their bows, staves, and cataphracts? Pina prayed fervently to the gods for wisdom and strength until she drifted to sleep.

She was later woken abruptly by news that there was a caravan of traders awaiting entry outside the west gantry. As she rode out to meet with her knights, she remembered that Alnus Hill was to the west.

* * *

Grey withdrew from the peephole on the gate's side door and said, "Your highness, I don't think they're from anywhere within the bounds of the Empire."

"What?"

"I count about the size of a contubernia. All on horseback. Though, they appear to have three times more horses than men. Most of them are clearly laden with large baskets."

"Could they be...well...Mongol traders?" stammered Hamilton.

Pina eyed the people behind her. They were all huddled behind the bulwark, awaiting the worst. And so was she. This would be her first contact with the foreigners from beyond the Gate. And if they were willing to trade, then perhaps there was a chance of directly communicating with them. And maybe fulfill her mission of gathering information about them.

She peeked through the peephole. Sure enough, there were around eleven mounted soldiers in unusual armor sporting bows, swords, and staves. Behind them was a line of horses, each carrying four large covered baskets likely filled with goods for trade. Or more hidden soldiers.

"Well, your highness?" Grey prodded.

Pina continued to observe. They weren't moving much until she could make out some movement in the back. She quickly felt her blood run cold. Three of them weren't soldiers. Rather, they were a mage, an elf, and _the Oracle of Emroy_.

"By the gods!" she gasped. "R-rory Mercury?"

"Your highness?"

"A mage, an elf, and the Oracle? We stand no chance!" the princess babbled. A mage and an elf were predictable in a fight. But the Oracle herself? Not a chance.

Hamilton shook her shoulder. "What are you saying, your highness?"

Pina opened her mouth to speak but felt no words forming. Her mind was still scrambling for a sentence while trying to think of a strategy to hold back the Oracle. It would take a legion of the Empire's best to subdue Rory Mercury. Also, she had no way of knowing whether or not the she was in league with the Mongols.

The princess nearly stumbled forward upon hearing knocking against the wooden gate.

"May we request entry? We have goods to sell," resounded a young feminine voice.

Pina didn't really know what she was thinking when she heard that. In fact, she was panicking when she swung around and unlatched the lock on the side door, hurling it forward with such force that it hit the tall foreigner standing behind it. Said foreigner landed on his back and clutched his bleeding nose all the while the mage, the elf, and the Oracle glared at the nerve-wracked princess.

"W-welcome to Italica..."

* * *

 **ORIGINALLY DRAFTED: August 12, 2017**

 **LAST EDITED: September 10, 2017**

 **INITIALLY UPLOADED: August 19, 2017**

 **NOTE: Let me know what you think, especially on the pacing.**

 **Also, thanks for the feedback on the Tangrians. It did get confusing so I've decided to just refer to them directly as the Mongols instead of just making up some pseudo-Mongols. Hope that helps and thanks so much for point that out. :)**


	3. Unlikely Allies

**NOTE: Was busy with some college papers.**

* * *

Pina knew what she was getting into when she made the proposition. Before her stood ten Mongol soldiers complimented by three Imperial citizens—a young mage apprentice, a displaced wood elf, and the Oracle. She could hardly consider them reliable, their loyalties fickle. But she was desperate and she hoped and prayed to the gods for wisdom.

The Mongol officer, a rather hospitable man named Tami, had agreed reluctantly to assist in bolstering Italica's meager defense. He carried with him his equipment—wide sabers, composite bows, and oddly shaped wooden staves ringed with steel. Their lamellar armor bore slight resemblances to the lorica of a standard Imperial legionnaire while their bows seemed to deviate in form from those issued to Imperial archers.

Alas, Pina would have to find out the hard way how they really fought. Her only means of communicating with them—the mage-apprentice Lelei—kept all conversations basic. If she wanted to learn more about them, she would have to wait until Lelei was more adept at their language. For now, the most complex thing she could give to them were meagre instructions.

"Are you willing to act as a decoy for us?" she asked after a long moment of contemplation.

Tami paused on the translation. He looked over the map and nodded.

Pina breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you. We will hit them on their flank when they are distracted."

Tami issued a few sentences. The mage took awhile to word them. "He says that you should keep your word. The Mongols would be expecting his return in a week's time."

The princess paused. Of course. She was putting these foreigners' lives on the line. If her plan would work, they would absorb the blunt of the enemy's attack. But after all that she had learned about their victories over her own countrymen, it was hard not to worry about them.

"We will be there. I look after our"—she stopped herself from saying the word 'allies'—"fellow defenders."

Pina was surprised when the officer smiled even before the mage began translating.

* * *

Her plan failed at the beginning. By the time Norman had taken command of the levies atop the east gate, the deserters were hailing down arrows upon them. They completely ignored the bait and were hitting them at the front with all they had.

"Send word to the south gate!" she ordered from her command post on the roof of the tallest building closest to the bulwark. She didn't really think much about it. But right now, she needed those horsemen. And the Oracle.

* * *

Pina almost felt a pain in her chest when she saw Norman cut down in front of her. A sword-brother, a good friend, lying broken and dead on the ground with a hole speared clean through him. Grey and the other knights fell back while the legion veterans rallied the surviving levies behind the bulwark. The main gate—a good portion of the east wall—was lost.

The princess didn't know what to do now. She tried to force down the panic rising out of her stomach but she knew she had to keep the fight going. She had to save her people. But what to do? The only thing keeping Italica from being sacked was the wooden fence held together by scratch cohorts of farmers, peasants, and old men who had long since retired from military service.

"Your Highness, look!" Hamilton called.

Something glistened against the moonlight, cutting short the reverie of the attackers. When the dust cleared, the Oracle was already standing in front of the mass of crazed bandits—the only visible resistance outside of the bulwark.

"By the gods," Pina breathed as Rory Mercury sped like a stallion, spearing the mass of soldiers and cutting them down with Emroy's halberd. It was as much a fight as it was a massacre. The deserters assumed the tortoise formation, their shields locked together to form a shell of steel, only to be switfly dispersed and destroyed by the Oracle. Despite this, more continued to pour through the gantry.

Then she heard the clacking of horse hooves against the cobblestone. Out of the street flew a volley of serrated arrows, some of them hitting their mark among the deserters. Pina ran to the edge of her perch, bending slightly over the bannister.

The Mongols were letting off another volley while speeding on horseback towards them. That in itself was an impressive feat—controlling a steed with one's legs while both arms were fully occupied with a weapon. Then they leaped over the bulwark. Almost immediately, the dirt on the ground began to rise.

"Are they...?" Hamilton croaked.

"They're masking themselves," Pina observed.

She squinted to see something tied to the tails of their horses, crunching into the dirt and throwing dust in the air. The resulting cloud frustrated the archers on the walls.

The cloud did not last, though. One of those on the wall—a siren, it appeared—began singing; her voice twisted the air in front of her. A hail of arrows came her way but they were all deflected. Then a sudden loud burst ripped through the noise. It stunned half the combatants into stillness but the princess kept her eyes on the siren who jolted back as a red stain began to appear on her side. For a moment, she looked dazed before she fainted off her perch, dropping to the ground with a thud.

From the corner of her eye, Pina saw Tami riding out of the circle with his wooden staff, smoke bellowing from its tip. In his other hand was a round black pot. It shattered to pieces on the ground, releasing a sort of caged smoke thick enough to swallow the whole yard. Then the arrows darted out of it, this time aimed at those on the battlements.

"Your Highness, there is still a large force waiting outside," Lelei reported, startling the princess. "Tami cannot hold them back for long."

Pina could say nothing to that. Even the Mongols had their limits. That was until she heard a rumbling thunder echo from the east. She turned to the mage. "Did you hear that?"

"Yes. It seems that Boyan Ji-tun has sent some reinforcements."

" _Who_ sent _what_?" Pina nearly screamed. This was worse now. That meant a herald had alerted the Mongols at Alnus. An army had already been dispatched to Italica before the battle began. She hoped Tami would survive this engagement. Because he was her only chance of persuading his kin from burning the city to the ground.

"We had to avoid a marching army on our way here," Lelei explained. "They did not seem to be like any of your countrymen so Tami sent back one of his men to ask for barrier troops from the boyan—I mean—the general, Ji-tun. Now that they're here, the battle is already over."

Pina angrily stammered. "H-how could you say that!?"

"You heard the thunder. It's only a matter of time."

The princess opened her mouth but was interrupted by loud whistling from the sky. It grew louder and before she could fully grasp what she heard, the earth outside the main gate cracked open in several places, sending dirt, stone, and men and beast flying high above the battlements, some of whom were without their limbs.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Thunder. Whistling. Eruption after eruption in quick succession. Pina felt the shockwaves and the had the ringing in her ears that came with it.

"What was that!?" she screamed.

Lelei wiped the dust off her head and slowly pointed to the horizon. "There."

The ringing faded just as the roaring war cries of hundreds of speeding cavalrymen echoed from the west. By then, the small Mongol band had retreated behind the bulwark while an exhausted Tami dragged the Oracle from the yard. Their efforts, however, paid off; the deserters fell back outside the city's walls. Pina followed Grey as he led the knights and some of the other citizens in a charge to seize the gantry.

She was not prepared for what she saw when she reached the battlements. The rising sun revealed the aftermath of that thunderous magic. Craters littered the outside, some of them filled with bits and pieces of what used to be the Empire's finest soldiers. The many who survived tried to rally while others fled. Towards the approaching Mongol relief force.

"May the gods have mercy on them," Grey muttered.

"May the horsemen have mercy on us," Pina added as the first volleys of Mongol arrows soared above the sky.

* * *

Pina knew the unwritten rules of warfare. One of which was that it was the duty of a victorious army to clean up all the dead. Though she was victorious on this day, she knew the real effort came from the Mongols. Thankfully for her, they understood the same principle. It did not take long for the corpses—looted clean—to be piled in heaps and either buried or burned. The stench from the rotting dead was overpowering.

Around five hundred brigands survived. Even then, the Mongols had to whittle them down. Pina and her knights controllably watched as each prisoner was seemingly interrogated. Some were spared while others had their heads lobbed off.

"The Mongols are selective of their captives," Lelei said.

"Who are they sparing?" Pina asked.

"Specialists. Engineers, artisans. Basically builders, painters, writers, attendants, anyone who can serve in some capacity." The mage paused as another scream was cut short by a sword through the neck.

"How can you be so calm with that?" Hamilton demanded.

Lelei sighed. "I'm trying to get used to it."

* * *

Negotiating with the 'mingghan', the commander of the relief force, was another challenge. If it hadn't been for Hamilton and Lelei, Pina would have ended up losing Italica by diplomacy alone. Thank the gods, he did not demand any more than what she could give.

Even though the Mongols were enriched by selling off the loot from Alnus, Italica still had to pay tribute in grain and coin, draining the city's treasury by half. Nearly three hundred prisoners were to be marched off to Alnus as slaves. It seemed a fitting payment for their direct intervention here. That and they were officially given grazing and business rights in Italica and nowhere else beyond that.

"There is one more thing," Lelei said after Hamilton read the stipulations in the grand hall of the Formali palace.

She turned to the mingghan as he concluded a rather heated chat with Tami. The latter sounded rather insistent on something much to his superior's chagrin. The former shook his head and issued a few quick sentences to the mage.

"Given that the Mongols are at war with the Empire because of Alnus," Lelei said, "and this is a battle where Mongols and Saderans fought as allies, the mingghan suggests a non-aggression treaty."

Of course! Why didn't she think of that? Pina kept her cool, chomping down her excitement. This was good. A non-aggression pact would save the Empire albeit temporarily.

* * *

Grey met with her in one of the halls outside the court.

"Your Highness, you do know that the Mongols now have a foothold in Italica. I don't doubt that they have already planted spies in city."

"You're right," she agreed rather frustratedly. "If it's not the money, then the only thing keeping us from turning into a mountain of rubble is this non-aggression treaty."

"I'm sure the Mongols would honor that."

The princess slumped down against the pillar, her face in her hands. "You'd think the Senate would?"

* * *

 **ORIGINALLY DRAFTED: August 27, 2017**

 **LAST EDITED: September 25, 2017**

 **INITIALLY UPLOADED: September 24, 2017**

 **NOTE: I have a lot on my plate right now so I wouldn't have much time to write. But that doesn't mean I'm not writing. Again, thanks for the support. :)**


	4. Complications of Diplomacy

**NOTE: I will be Latinizing/Romanizing more names to make them fit.**

* * *

It could have been worse but it was already bad enough. Pina could barely stop seething after she had already cracked the goblet she was drinking from over the head of the commander of her own reinforcements.

Lady Bozes Co Palestaea, legate of the first cohort of the Scarlet Rose, dropped to her knees as blood trickled down her forehead. She was as much stunned and confused as the rest of the relief force that had raced all the way from the capital to Italica assuming the worst. Yet here she was in the grand hall of the Formali palace, unsoiled and undamaged, wondering what in the gods had happened.

"Y-your Highness!" gasped Lady Beofetra E Catia. "W-what did we do wrong?"

Pina collapsed against the throne and pressed her fingers against her temples. A moment later, she straightened herself and apologized. "I'm sorry. It's...a rather complicated series of events."

"Did we miss anything? Did something happen?" Beofetra asked as she pressed a rag over Bozes's forehead.

The princess eyed the spoils of the Scarlet Rose's first skirmish with the Mongols. Despite the cracks in his armor, Tami could have looked worse. Sandwiched between two massive woven baskets that had some of the goods that the Mongols rightfully claimed from the battle, the lone prisoner-of-war could barely reciprocate Hamilton's pleas. It was not much a provocation of open war as a minor engagement. But for all she knew, she had, by proxy, compromised a treaty that was only a day old.

* * *

The evening cold helped to ease the panic in her chest. Along with the sound of water streaming through the ducts, up and down the little canals that made the Formali garden a marvelous sight, Pina cleared her again just to think.

"We could initiate negotiations with the Mongols before they could retaliate," Grey remarked, eyeing his protege and liege pace back and forth between the clean-cut hedges.

"It was tiring enough the first time," the princess groused. "And now because of this, they're going to tear apart any peace options we're going to offer!"

"They would want the culprits," the veteran countered.

"You know we can't give them that!" Pina stopped to gaze at her reflection rippling at the base of the fountain. The way she looked made her feel sick. "Gods, what a mess!"

"It could be worse. At least Tami is alive."

"Not so much capable of walking without a limp." She looked up at the stars. How amazing that they were so innocent and free from these kinds of burdens. She closed her eyes and wished to be a star, an ethereal spirit in the realm of the gods looking down upon the mortals below. Unbothered, uncaring. Just sweet, sweet solitude among the vast emptiness of the sky...

Pina heard footfalls crunching rapidly against the grass.

"Your Highness!" Hamilton gasped. The Scarlet Rose scribe had her helmet on and her gladius drawn.

The princess rested her hand on the hilt of her sword. "What is it?"

"The Mongols are inside the estate!"

And to think it could get any worse.

* * *

Pina felt her chest aching from the physical stress of sprinting in her full lorica sans her helm and shield. She had grown accustomed to the weight of her own equipment after years of training but she felt far too winded when she wove from corner to corner until she slid into the great hall where about a dozen Mongols were completely surrounded by three times their number.

What made things worse was that it was Tami's group including Lelei, the elf Tuka, and the Oracle. This could not get any worse.

"Stand down!" she ordered. Her knights heard her but looked too confused to obey. Pina breathed slowly before yelling with more control. "I said, stand down! That is an order!"

"Your Highness?" Bozes called from the front, facing down a taller man.

"Your Highness, we're keeping the intruders from making a move," Beofetra argued, the edge of her sword inches from that of a smaller female soldier whose own curved saber was pressing against her side.

"You heard the order!" Grey hollered, his voice booming around the hall. "Stand down!"

" _Bosod sogso_!"

Pina snapped her head to the end of the hall. Tami, partially wrapped in bloodstained spider-silk rags and a tunic, half stood with the help of a maid. The Mongols appeared conflicted but they eased away from the knights and sheathed their sabers. Even the Oracle stayed her halberd much to the astonishment of the Scarlet Rose.

The princess was dumbfounded. The Oracle obeyed a Mongol command. Willingly.

Tami spoke. And Lelei translated: "A nice evening, isn't it, princess?"

Pina could feel the gazes of her subordinates. "The treaty still stands," she worded.

"The boyan is not going to like it," he replied.

* * *

Word traveled fast in the Empire. As all roads lead to the capital, so did every bit of information from the farthest marches finds its way to the Senate. Pina anticipated the backlash and sure enough, five days later, the delegation of representatives arrived in Italica to await the detachment of Mongols parading down the city's streets to the Formali estate.

"Princess, you are aware that you are walking a fine line here," Senator Casel El Tiberius warned as he watched from the wide alcove fronting the mansion's facade.

Pina did not meet his gaze but she felt the daggers he was glaring into her. "We have one of theirs alive and treated fairly."

"Oh? You seem to have neglected mentioning the countless citizens they have in their camps," Casel snarled.

"Without our prisoner, you would not be looking over a vast ruin here," she growled as she kept her head craned down to the courtyard where these horsemen casually rode up the estate grounds. Every soldier was mounted—even the standard-bearer and the shield-bearers had their own mounts. And similar to how an echelon would stiffen like a wall of legionnaires, so did these foreigners and their steeds.

It was the same mingghan and this time he looked far less enthusiastic about revisiting the city so soon. Interestingly, and much to the alarm of Casel and his fellow representatives, a Falmarti native groomed like a noble and clothed in modest robes acted as mediator and translator. For all they knew, he could have been an enslaved Saderan citizen. For Pina, it was a relief knowing that Lelei was not the only person trying to learn—or being forced to learn—the Mongol tongue.

Within the grand hall, Pina and the four senators stood opposite the mingghan and his entourage of twenty-three men, all dressed for war. Both Hamilton and the translator acted as buffers between them, the former ready with her quill and board.

Pina felt a trickle of sweat bead down her temple despite the air in the hall being colder than the northern winds. Sandwiched between two fickle forces, she could feel her lungs squeeze out every once of air with every breath.

"I am Casel El Tiberius..."

Pina would later endure a more tedious negotiation process.

* * *

 **ORIGINALLY DRAFTED: September 26, 2017**

 **LAST EDITED: October 11, 2017**

 **INITIALLY UPLOADED: October 11, 2017**

 **NOTE: This is all I could muster up for now. Hope you like it. Also, it took me awhile to get the Mongoltage reference. Thanks for that. :)**


	5. To Tame a Hungry Tiger

**NOTE: Hi. Sorry for the delay. I was busy with college papers, my dissertation/thesis, unwinding with friends. And I'm going through a _Fairy Tail_ phase. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I might throw in some later edits but right now, my brain is working at half-capacity. So...yeah.**

 **Also, thanks for the feedback and the reviews. :)**

 **And to _TagaManilaPoAko_ : taga-Baguio ako, bro. :D**

* * *

 **EDIT (December 11, 2017): Finally got around to making a few edits.**

* * *

Pina had grown used to Casel's oratory since she was a child. She could easily tell if he was giving a dramatic half-hearted speech to appease or was subtly slipping in clever insults to certain public figures. So she expected just as much when he had departed from the hall to seethe at her following rounds of filibustering with the Mongols.

"To think it would have been simpler if you had not scurried all the way here chasing glory in the guise of pursuing specters!" he growled.

"Senator, perhaps you have not been properly informed," Pina snarled coolly.

"Of what? What other secrets are you hiding from the Senate?"

The princess pushed herself from the column she was leaning against to meet Casel's glare directly. "My father tasked me to probe for weaknesses in the Mongol lines. It just so happened that my investigation led me here. It also was an unfortunate coincidence that soldiers from our own ranks deserted to form an army bent on carving up our own people. Then here come the Mongols seeking trade at an inopportune time. What would you have had me do then?"

Casel kept his chin raised despite the anger flaring in her pupils. "There could have been other alternatives, I'm sure," he scoffed.

Pina bit her tongue to keep from yelling. Rather, she could feel her nails digging into her bare palms. "Senator, we have gone passed points of no return. We should capitalize on the Mongol's dwindling hospitality."

"And you should be wary of the Senate's dwindling patience."

"Does the Senate want the total annihilation of the Empire?" the princess growled.

"The Senate has begun raising new legions. Thousands are being levied, volunteers are swelling by the hundreds. Do you know what is in store?" the senator countered.

"Fools," Pina mouthed. Even after the disasters of Alnus and the fate of their expeditionary forces beyond the Gate, her fellow countrymen still held onto the illusion that a war against the Mongols was winnable. True, there could be some leeway to breaking their ranks but in the end, it would be the foreigner's superior maneuverability, horsemanship, and weaponry that would ensure their total dominance over the Empire's best.

"Your highness," Casel called when she walked away. "Your highness!"

"Go ahead!" she yelled. "Tell them what you think is best. My only concern is the safety of our people."

Upon reentering the hall, she was greeted by a record of stipulations and concessions that Hamilton had recorded. Pina once against slumped against the Formali throne as she counted more diplomatic losses for the Saderan Empire.

* * *

 _One week later..._

The message from the capital was polarizing. The nature of her assignment now changed. While her goal was still to gauge for a soft underbelly of the Mongols, she was now approved authority over Italica in lieu of the incapable Myui. Not only did she now shoulder the responsibility of defending an entire city and its surrounding territories but she also had to poke sticks at the people she was technically defending against.

"Cheer up, your highness," Hamilton said. "You are the princess after all. You might soon be given greater authority. This is a promising post."

"Thank you, Hamilton," Pina replied with a weak smile. Thank the gods for her scribe's optimism.

No sooner had she felt relieved when another messenger was brought into the palace. Well, describing the man as a messenger was an understatement. The Mongol soldier—clad in the dark crimson lamellar suit of armor that had become a staple of his people—dropped to one knee before her, wordlessly handing her a sealed scroll.

Pina nearly fainted when she read it. It was penned in both the Mongol and Saderan scripts.

"T-Tami is being recalled to...t-to your capital?" she stammered at the foreigner who only stared at her before slightly nodding.

The reason, she later found out to her horror, screamed politics. Only this time, it was the Mongol Senate—or the Kurultai, as they were called—that was itching to weigh a heavier hand in the Gate, or more specifically the 'interesting state of affairs between two great nations' as the letter so carefully described it. Pina speculated that they were most likely gathering experienced frontline troops to improve their strategic position in Falmart. And most likely go on the offensive when the time is ripe.

"Wait!" she nearly screamed. The messenger was taken aback but quickly regained calm. Pina called Hamilton over and the scribe began carefully wording her liege's request.

When the messenger finally departed for Alnus, Grey met her in the throne hall. "Are you sure about all that?"

"I know it's not the wisest move but I'd rather run a fool's errand than sit here doing nothing while our 'neighbors' plot our downfall."

Bozes stepped forward. "I'll join you, your highness. It was my aggression that had led to this predicament in the first place."

"Very well." Pina looked around and saw more of her own knights contemplating the same thought. "I can understand your hesitation. I will need a garrison here, after all."

Beofetra and Hamilton followed after Bozes. "We'll follow you, your highness," they chorused.

Grey huffed and folded his arms. "Don't worry. You can always count on us to keep Italica safe."

"Pray for us when we get to Alnus," Pina said with a smile.

* * *

 _Four days later..._

The Saderan delegation to the Mongol heartland met their Mongol escorts outside the very gantry that witnessed the now historically significant cooperation between two warring nations against a single foe. Pina could feel iron boiling in the pit of her stomach. She and her three knights were dressed in dark blue tunics laced with gold—regal Saderan diplomatic attire. In contrast to their escorts, they were royalty among their bodyguards.

"Well," she breathed to the sky. "May the gods look down on us this day."

Pina allowed herself to be helped onto her personal mount, a white destrier named Lavridia, even though she had had the war horse for four years. She noted how small the Mongol steeds were compared to hers. She glanced back at Grey standing on the balcony and then at Bozes, Hamilton, and Beofetra who closely followed her atop their own horses. They were going to Alnus without the weight of steel on their bodies and mere daggers strapped to their hips.

"Princess, we're with you," Bozes said as she gripped the reins of her steed. The other two nodded in agreement.

Pina breathed. She looked at the mingghan, again the same man, leading the escort. The man turned on his waist. The trip to Alnus was interestingly quick, taking a day less than usual.

* * *

Alnus Hill was now a small town in itself. Wood and mortar palisades had been erected as the first line of defense followed by another line of brick and stone walls three times higher and complimented by jagged battlements. Roving sentries and their signature bows patrolled behind them, pausing to give them heavy looks. It was all Pina could do but marvel at what was inside the workings of the Mongol army camp.

The first thing she noticed were the yurts. Hundreds upon hundreds of them dotted the landscape, each sheltering at least half a contubernia of fighting men. And their families. The princess observed with great interest the children of these foreigners running around, playing with sticks and their fathers' bows. Some as young as five were already striking straw targets from the distance of a trained legion archer.

Pina turned her head and saw smiths and craftsmen busy at work, forging weapons, mending cracks in armor, tying laces. Then she recognized how familiar their assistants were. These half-shackled, pale-skinned servants were Saderan citizens. She knew. She could tell. And they did as well, some letting their jaws hang agape while others nearly dropped what they were holding to fall prostrate before their rightful liege.

It was then that she felt the attention of the whole camp center on her as she made her way past throngs of onlookers. The deeper she followed the mingghan, the more intimidating the flanking soldiers appeared.

The mingghan stopped and dismounted. Pina followed along with her escorts. The yurt was massive, situated on a man-made hill not too far from the Gate itself. Standards flew behind the stiff ranks of the heavily armored Mongol shock troops. The Scarlet Rose knights ascended the steps to the headquarters of the Mongol army. The mingghan opened the door and gestured at them to enter. Inside, there were so many interesting relics and fascinations but Pina kept her attention fixed on the man sitting behind the table in the middle of the massive war tent.

His steely eyes pierced her as he stood. His beard was tied in a knot while his mustache ended in sharp edges. This man, the Mongol general—the enemy commander—welcomed her with an even smile.

Beside him was a much younger bespectacled man with cleaner cropped hair. He appeared far more serious than his liege. "We welcome you," he said with a slight bow. "I will be serving as translator for these negotiations. This is our general Ji-tun. I am the quartermaster Yagida."

"Greetings to you, sirs," Pina said. She hoped they did not detect that shaking in her voice.

The following exchange weighed heavily on her that Pina felt like she was drowning in the deep sea. The pressure on her chest felt so great. Ji-tun looked to be a patient listener but she was feeling unease about Yagida who could very well be twisting their words for their benefit. The princess could not know for sure.

Surprisingly, they had made some significant progress. And Pina breathed a sigh of relief when Ji-tun replied amiably to most of the affairs discussed.

"I will officially recognize this treaty," Ji-tun concluded. "And I trust you would as well. I am warning you, however: any further excursions and I will personally lead my riders to your cities and raze them to the ground."

Pina, Hamilton, Bozes, and Beofetra could feel the fire radiating from his voice even before Yagida had fully translated for them. "Agreed," the princess nodded.

Ji-tun folded his arms and while Yagida prodded, "Is there anything more that you wish to discuss?"

Pina gulped. Her hands were sweaty, her heart was racing, and her mind was scrambling to formulate the right words. She had to do this for her people. She had to do this to keep her citizens from ending up like those countless heads sitting on the spikes outside Alnus. "General, I am aware of the weight of my request. But I hope you could grant it. I would like an audience with your emperor...the Khagan."

Their eyes went wide. Yagida sputtered it to his liege who eyed them with renewed contempt. Then receded into calm. When Ji-tun looked at them again, he was thoughtful. "I see. Is this because some of my soldiers are being summoned to face the Kurultai?"

"Yes, general."

"Very well." The boyan breathed. The resounding chuckle startled the guests and even Yagida. "I will send riders to the heartland to inform them. May I ask what your motivations are?"

Pina bit her lip. She could not just tell the enemy commander the truth. But she did not have the appropriate lie to cover it up. With bated breath, she forced herself to look him in the eye. "General, I wish to personally negotiate with the Khagan. I believe that his word is final and that he may consider the plight of our people. And that he may accept our deepest apologies, delivered in person by the regent of the guilty."

"So you wish to tame the tiger before he pounces," Ji-tun said.

"Yes."

The boyan smiled. "You are a brave young woman, princess. Hopefully you are wiser than your father. Do not make me regret sending you to Alnus with my best soldiers. You have my blessing."

When Yagida finished speaking on his behalf, Pina could barely feel the spark of joy that beat in her heart. There was hope. There was a chance she could avert total disaster. But she knew, in the back of her mind, that there would be elements within the Empire and even in the Mongol lands that would rather see to war as a solution. Hamilton, Bozes, and Beofetra gave her their salutes.

"You will be accorded proper lodgings," Yagida said. "Do not abuse our hospitality."

Pina thanked him and was led into to a wide yurt not far from the boyan's own. Inside, she found finely tanned skins comprising half her accommodations while a small fire pit was cleanly crackling in the center. Pots lined the lattice walls while tapestries and various other cultural trinkets hung from the ceiling. The carpets themselves were thick with fur and quite comfortable, making her wonder aloud what sort of game the Mongols hunted in their world.

"I have never seen the patterns on these hides," Hamilton remarked, scanning the stretched fur hide hanging off the low rafters.

"Fermented milk," Bozes commented after sampling the contents of the jars. "Cheese, dried meats. Food for the traveling soldier."

"I have to say," Beofetra added, glancing over their four beddings on the floor. Hay, horse hair, and bushy wolf tails comprised the bulk of their comfort, draped over by tanned skins. "These people are practical."

The princess undid the bonds on her hair. "A nomadic army grows restless when forced into a sedentary position for far too long. Time is ticking fast and I doubt the general is as patient as he appears to be."

"I can agree with you on that," Tami echoed. The four Saderans stilled as they snapped their heads to the doorway of their tent. Tami waved his hand while he leaned against the doorframe. "Yagida told me about everything. I guess you wanted to see me about my visit to the capital," he continued in accented Saderan.

"I, I..." Pina paused to control herself. This was her chance to seek some compromise, to maybe influence Tami to temper his testimony to the Kurultai. "I'm only taking the necessary steps to ensure my people's survival."

"That's quite the bold step you took, your highness. Coming here on your own volition."

"And why are you here then?" Bozes demanded controllably. She flinched for a bare second when her hand rested on her hip. If it was not for their daggers being confiscated upon entry, then she would have had some good steel to leverage against all threats. "I thought you were not as fluent in our tongue and relied on a translator, one of our own citizens."

Tami raised his hands. "I was nervous. I had been learning your language for quite some time but I never really had much practice. Besides, I'm just paying a visit. I honestly didn't think you, out of all people, would go this far. I mean, usually we just deal with heralds, diplomats...never a regent conversing directly with the general."

Pina approached him. "Tami, I know you have a good heart. But I know how the Senate works. I have no doubt in my mind that your Kurultai functions the same way. They will interrogate you, they will tear you apart to find a suitable casus belli, a basis for their cause."

"I know what you mean, your highness." The veteran Mongol stepped away. "I always thought that that was why you came. Don't worry. I know the Kurultai just as much as the general. You have my word that I won't allow myself to be used as a pawn for inflaming war. We've had enough of that already."

The princess eyed him. "I hope you're sincere."

Tami grinned and turned on his heel. "You're going to enjoy the heartland, your highness."

Pina, Hamilton, Bozes, and Beofetra watched the man disappear into the busy crowd. The princess closed the door and stoked the coals in the fire pit. Wordlessly, her knights shed their outer cloaks. It was warm in the tent. Any warmer and Pina would feel like burning up from the melting pot of emotions she was feeling right now.

"To the gods, I pray...help us," she muttered.

* * *

 **ORIGINALLY DRAFTED: October 12, 2017**

 **LAST EDITED: December 11, 2017**

 **INITIALLY UPLOADED: December 1, 2017**

 **NOTE: It's going to take me awhile to update. Hopefully this Christmas break, I'll churn out more.**


	6. I Came, I Saw, I Inquired

**NOTE: Allow me to make some creative liberties here. I've made a few changes and additions with the setting and all that but I also tried to maintain the historical context. I still welcome your feedback, history buffs.**

* * *

The Gate itself was a marvelous sight to behold. The portal shimmered between massive stone pillars made unbreakable by the divine powers that conjured it. Pina counted over thirty heavily-armored Mongol soldiers patrolling the perimeter.

"Your Highness," Hamilton said rather nervously. "You may have to issue an address."

"To whom?" Pina turned half-way then stopped when she saw them.

Hamilton gestured to the mass of Saderan slaves gathered at the base of the steps of the Gate. "Our enslaved people."

Pina breathed deep. She did not expect this kind of late reception. But the looks on the surrounding Mongol troops, some of whom were already mounted with their blades, bows, and lances at the ready, made her anxious. In contrast, her people showed hope, uncertainty, and expectancy on their faces. They wanted her to give them something to build on, something to fuel them through the next day. She understood that slavery had become a fate worse than death for them.

She looked over the lingering crowd to the command tent. Ji-tun, Yagida, and a handful of officers were watching her expectantly. They did not look impressed. At the base of the hill stood Tami and his unit. Among them was Lelei, the wood elf Tuka, and the Oracle (who seemed rather intrigued by the spectacle).

The princess bit her lip. She could either ignite a revolt right here, right now with a simple speech and end up having her head impaled on a spear. Or she could risk dampening the hopes of her already oppressed people in order to prolong the long, arduous, and less bloody process of diplomacy.

"Allow me to speak," Pina said to a nearby Mongol soldier. She could feel his stare. Then he walked off and talked to another soldier who then approached her.

"You talk. Short talk. We watch. No bad moves," he growled in rough Saderan.

Pina looked back to the hill, seeing Ji-tun folding his arms and looking more relaxed. The enemy general trusted her somewhat. She began to make her speech.

The following day, the Yagida informed the princess that the Saderan slave population in Alnus had become more vigorous and lively in their labor. He also told her that she was essentially confined within the Mongol camp until Tami and the rest of the 'frontier veterans' were to muster back through the Gate. He reasoned that it was for her safety but she knew better—she had become the most efficient tool in suppressing dissent in the camp.

* * *

 _Two days later..._

Vast rolling hills and distant snowcapped mountains were the first to welcome her when she crossed through the Gate. Pina eyed the many yurts surrounding this side of the portal. Compared to Alnus, the canton here was smaller in size but the amount of soldiers stationed here seemed to equal a third of the forces they left behind.

Tami rode up to Pina who was mounted atop Lavridia. "Welcome to Goryeo, your highness."

The princess eyed him. Underneath the cheekpieces on his helmet was a wide prideful grin. "Goryeo. This is the name of the land?"

"Well, this part of the land. Technically, we are in the Kingdom of Goryeo."

"The Kingdom of Goryeo?"

"Goryeo is subject to the Mongol Empire. This is the frontier. Unlike Falmart, the capital Karakorum is a good week's ride away." Tami stretched his arm towards to the pale mountain ranges in the horizon. "Just beyond those mountains to the northwest are vast sprawling steppes. Those are the heartlands."

Pina could see a walled city in the near distance. From the looks of it—the broken walls, the wooden construction platforms, and the several uneven craters surrounding the city—she could discern this is where the Saderan Imperial Army made its mark. "What is that city?"

"That?" Tami's mien changed to a more controlled expression. "That is Gesong, the capital of Goryeo. That...that is where your armies...well, your father's armies..."

"I know."

Tami smiled at Pina before riding further up the line, followed by his unit who threw her mixed expressions.

Bozes quickly saddled up next to her with a look of worry. "Your highness, what did he say?"

"This place is a vassal state." Pina then pointed to Gesong's partially reconstructed walls. "And that is what our people tried to take."

"By the gods..."

* * *

Pina and her knights had to keep up with their escorts. Even Lavridia was starting to visibly tire from the constant riding. Out of the canton, over the hills, between tightly-packed trees, and up to Gesong's ravaged gantry, the distance covered compared to the strength of a horse surprised her. Upon entering the city, they were welcomed by a reticent population.

They paraded down the streets, through marauded districts and homes that were under reconstruction. People of all ages were actively involved in rebuilding, with some children stopping with their shovels to gawk at the strange round-eyed foreigners in gold-rimmed blue garments riding atop horses that were larger than the local mounts.

"You think they're showing us the damage we did?" Hamilton mused.

"I'd rather keep that to myself until we meet the governor," Beofetra quietly warned.

"The governor and probably the rest of the Goryean court," Pina corrected.

Interestingly, Tami and a few other soldiers had been exchanging pleasantries with most of the citizenry and even the garrison troops while riding by. Judging how they were received—wide smiles, brief laughter, even a few trinkets—she became curious to find how highly they regarded them.

It was dusk by the time they reached the palace grounds. The damage extended here as well, with wide gaps in the walls and the ornate thatched roofs charred in soot. The assembly of people that received them dictated the existing hierarchy—the Mongols were the clear overlords with their dark crimson lacquered chest plates while the Goryean guardsmen were seconded in their orange chain mail suits.

The nobility, however, in their strange regal garb were a sight to see. Their motifs seemed to follow the patterns of their architecture. Images of serpents, dragons, and odd beasts were imprinted on the walls, carved into the trusses on the ceiling above and under the bannisters. Even the servants who tended to them were neatly dressed in white silk robes.

Pina kept herself controlled during the pleasantries though she nearly choked upon seeing the cartload of Saderan loot—scuta, gladii, and the standards of the Sixth, Ninth, and Tenth Legions. She made no remark about how valuable they were to the Imperial Saderan Army though she did keep a mental note to try and retrieve them on her return trip to Alnus. If she could return, that is...

The banquet that followed became an opportunity to learn about this new world and hopefully put forward an appealing first impression. It was a great risk but she knew she could win some sympathy from these vassals who were technically not devoted to the Mongol Empire.

"Your highness."

The princess looked up from her seat. "Yes, Lelei?"

The young mage stepped aside to reveal an aged short-statured man. Despite being suited in the signature Mongol lamellar armor, he was distinct from his contemporaries in that his shoulders were draped by a fur cloak alongside a saber sheathed in an ornate scabbard and a distinguishable weapon straddled over his arm: a Mongol fire-staff.

The officer bowed slightly as he greeted her with a smile. "Princess Pina Co Lada of Sadera. On behalf of the _keshigs_ , I welcome you," Lelei translated.

"The _keshigs_?"

"We are the Khagan's elite guard. I am the _cherbi_ , the commander. My name is Komadai and I will be personally taking over as your escorts on your journey to the capital."

Pina looked to her knights. "Thank you, Komadai. We hope not to be a bother to your duties."

Komadai chuckled. "Do not worry about such things, princess. You have my word that we will die before a hair on your head is harmed."

The princess paused. She did not expect that extension of security from these people. "Don't go through so much trouble, please."

"As I said, do not worry. Allow us to show our appreciation for caring for one of our own. Have a nice dinner, princess." The officer then left, leaving Lelei to sit among the Saderan entourage.

"Lelei, what did he mean by 'one of our own'?"

The mage looked bothered. It took her a moment before she turned to the princess and the Scarlet Knights huddled around her. The rest of the atmosphere was occupied by drink, music, and nobility trying to appear behaved in front of their Mongol observers. Lelei raised her head to look around. Her eyes landed on someone but the figure disappeared in the crowd before Pina could single him out.

"Your highness," the mage said softly. "Tami used to be a keshig."

* * *

Komadai's men were some of the best-armed Pina had seen since first encountering these people. They indeed lived up to their designation as a sort of Praetorian Guard for the Mongol court. Cinnabar mantles, ornate saber hilts, black composite bows, and metal-rimmed fire-sticks were the dominant characteristics that set them apart from most of the Mongol army.

With horses barded in mail, they were a fearsome sight to behold. Pina could imagine the rightfully frightening scene of hundreds of these keshigs charging down the hill towards them, followed by hails of arrows, and then the plumes of fire from their mystical powder-staves.

"Your highness, the cherbi advises you to stay close to us," Lelei said, guiding her and her knights towards Tami's unit. "He says, it makes you easier to look after."

Pina nodded and directed Lavridia to the group of dismounted Mongol soldiers. The closer she got, the more she could hear a heated argument between some of Tami's subordinates. The officer in question was trying to ignore it all, busying himself with adjusting the saddle on his horse. When she and her knights cast their shadows against their boots, the group fell silent and the arguers—a fiery, young woman with short brown hair and a taller, composed man who looked tired—eyed her before calmly walking back into the palace.

The princess leaned forward towards Lelei. "What was that about?"

"It seems they just found out that Tami was a keshig."

Pina felt her brows rise. "They didn't know?"

"Apparently. Being a keshig seems to be a sensitive issue among them." Lelei sighed and looked back at the silent unit and then at Tami who silently passed through the back of the stables to the palace gardens. "It would seem that the Mongols are not very enthusiastic of their imperial guards."

"Sounds like a rift in their ranks," Bozes remarked. "I guess that's something they have in common with us."

Pina nodded. The Praetorian Guards held a mixed reputation within the Imperial Army; there was no disposing of the animosity between the elite troops who had minimal field experience compared to the low-ranking levies who were constantly on the front lines. She decided to keep an eye on this potential Mongol weakness just in case.

"What about the other soldiers?" the princess inquired.

"Mostly hunters," Lelei replied, nudging her shoulder towards the other frontline troops that were also tapped to present their testimony to the Kurultai. "They were raised as hunters before enlisting. They use their bows a lot but sometimes a few would switch to a fire-arm if they had any. Unlike them though, Tami is the only one who has two fire-arms."

"Fire...arms?"

"The staves that shoot fire." The mage pointed to the musket slung across the back of a passing sentry. "Everyone can buy one. But they are very expensive, it seems. Tami has two because he bought a new one and kept the one that was issued to him when he was a keshig."

"Where is the other one?"

"He keeps it wrapped up over his rucksack. I think he doesn't like to use it much now."

"Bad memories, perhaps?" Hamilton suggested.

Pina shook her head. "I wouldn't jump to conclusions." She made a mental note to ask him later about his service in the keshigs. If they were as reviled as she was told, it might prove useful in disrupting cohesion during a battle. Not that she was anticipating one anytime soon but just in case.

* * *

 **ORIGINALLY DRAFTED: December 10, 2017**

 **LAST EDITED: December 12, 2017**

 **INITIALLY UPLOADED: December 12, 2017**

 **NOTE: Again, if there's any history buffs out there, feel free to offer corrections. I might do some deep research again. Anyway, thank you for the continued support. Hope you like this one.**


	7. The Imperial Guardsman

The roads thinned as they ascended up the first mountain and by the time they passed the first rocky outcrop, the two hundred strong keshig force had adjusted their formation. While the path was wide enough to accommodate two carriages side-by-side, Pina understood the extensive caution Komadai abided by. Everyone rode in threes with individual persons of importance sandwiched between the keshigs.

Pina clutched the thick fur-lined overcoat given to her closer to herself as the winds began pelting her face with flakes of snow. Lavridia prodded slowly forward, at the same pace as her escorts. They mostly paid her no mind, allowing her to chance glances at their equipment: the bows, the arrows, the sabers, the trinkets, and the rifles wrapped in cloth. How differently the Imperial Saderan Army would function if they were similarly equipped, she mused.

They stopped at an outpost near the summit. Despite the size of the camp, there seemed to be more than enough supplies to replenish half a legion. While perched on the side of the mountain, the view stretched over much of the rugged terrain. Pina could see a set of structures built atop a high plateau. It was intricately walled and boasted the same architecture from Goryeo.

"It's a monastery," Lelei said.

"It looks beautiful," Hamilton breathed.

"Amazing how they could build so high up here," Bozes added, "with these types of roads. Imagine hauling the materials from the plains."

The mage slid off her saddle and led her mount into the stables. "It is where we will be staying for the next two nights."

"Why is that?" Pina asked.

Lelei pointed to the pale shafts sifting atop the distant uneven aiguilles. Thick gray clouds thundered behind. "Weather. Komadai says we should hurry lest we get caught in a blizzard."

"It's winter here already?" Beofetra queried.

"Not just yet," Tuka added, tucking her bow in her rucksack as she carefully bobbed out of the cubicle where her horse rested. The heavy overcoat and the fur lining made the petite wood elf appear bloated but the warmth on her cheeks contrasted against the outside pallor. "While this the earth here is mostly stone, I can feel the natural energies flowing. One of many snowstorms is going to pass over us very soon."

Neither the princess nor her knights had much communication with the timid elf but she sounded very reassuring. Pina suspected she might trust her more than the Mongols.

"We're stopping at a monastery. It looks comfortable, don't you think, your highness?" Tuka said cheerily.

Pina cracked a small smile while tightening the bushy hide around her body. "It looks warm."

* * *

For a humble monastery, the facilities provided would have catered to high nobility. Warm baths, comfortable lodgings, and a well-disciplined monastic order keeping things tidy redefined Pina's understanding of modesty. These laconic clean-shaven monks adhered to strict protocols that reminded her so much of the diviners tending the shrines back home. They functioned as mechanically as a siege tower with each one diligently doing their task without nary a word.

Pina settled beside her fellow Saderans in the dining hall of the monastery. Komadai and some of his men occupied the other side of the long table.

"These monks are fickle but they keep to themselves, which is a good thing," Lelei translated for Komadai who sipped on the tea that was being served. He made another remark that the mage decided not to communicate. Probably because it was a joke that made him laugh haughtily.

"We will be snowed in, right?" Pina asked.

The cherbi nodded. "Two or three days at best."

"I see." The princess twisted her head at the commotion across the hall. A few oblates stood nearby while Tami tried his best to wiggle himself out of the Oracle's embrace. It bothered her that the disciple of Emroy fancied the soldier; she could neither understood nor wanted to comprehend their interesting relationship. It also did not help that the Oracle was blessed with a youthful immortality while Tami would have easily passed as her father.

Komadai chuckled at the sight. "Our boy has made many friends among your people it seems."

Pina offered a weak smile. Then a thought crossed her mind. "I hope you would not mind me asking."

"Go ahead."

The princess chanced another glance at Tami before leaning over the table. "I have heard that Tami was one of your men. Does this mean that he served as a personal bodyguard to the Khagan?"

Komadai appeared thoughtful for a moment before replying, "Yes, he did. He was not the best but he did his duty without fail. In fact, he even saved the previous Khagan from danger."

Upon hearing this, the whole Saderan entourage (barring the Oracle who was smothering a deeply and visibly mortified Tami in the far corner of the room much to the chagrin of his subordinates) fell silent.

"How?" Lelei asked before the princess could.

"We were escorting the Khagan somewhere. A band of assassins attacked and Tami happened to be in the right place at the right time." Komadai shrugged and beamed pridefully. "Let's just say that an arrow struck the Khagan's horse. He was pinned underneath the beast but Tami rushed over, braving the hail of arrows, and dragged him free. The Khagan would have perished then and there had it not been for his actions."

"So what happened after? Why is he no longer a member of your imperial guard?"

The cherbi tittered while drinking more tea. "That is another story for another day."

Pina held her hand to keep from pressing the matter. She bowed her head slightly. "Thank you for sharing it with us."

"If you want to learn more, you can ask him yourself," Komadai added before standing up and making for the exit. "That is, if you can convince him to tell you. Have a nice rest, princess. I will see you tomorrow."

Pina watched the man leave then saw the Oracle reclining unimpressed on one of the woven benches lining the walls being admonished by a flustered Tuka while Tami had retreated behind a small table in another corner of the hall, dining slowly on a modest meal. They briefly met each other's gaze and Pina could suspect that the soldier had heard everything.

* * *

"I know why you're here, your highness," Tami greeted without turning to look at her.

The princess reclined against the bannister. The view from this perch was breathtaking, the peaks highlighted by the moon above while winter howled over the rugged horizon. She nudged his arm but he stiffened and edged away, still looking down at the landscape.

"Tami, why did you leave the keshigs?" she enquired as innocently as she could.

"It was for the best," came the quick guarded reply.

"Best for who?"

The soldier looked at her. "You are very inquisitive."

"I'm curious."

"Why are you curious?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" It was not a good comeback but at least Pina saw that it got him thinking.

"Why do you want to know? I am not remarkable."

"You helped us in Italica. Your presence was requested by the Kurultai."

Tami gawked at her. He dipped his head and she could see his shoulders tremble slightly before he composed himself. "I joined the keshigs because they paid well."

Pina was slightly surprised. "What about your loyalty to—"

"I am loyal to whoever pays me and feeds me and takes care of my—" he stopped himself. "Whoever takes care of those under me."

"And yet you risked your life to save the Khagan."

Tami smarted. "It was my job. I care more about my own than the courts."

The princess did not mean it but she found herself rubbing his back. "I see. It's never easy taking up the mantle of a commander."

"I never wanted this, honestly."

"What did you want?"

"I just wanted a source of income. I did not want to farm, or peddle wares like most of the people I grew up with. I was not very adventurous and I had needs to fulfill. At the time, the Army had much to offer," Tami let out a bitter laugh at the evening sky. "I thought I would end up guarding some relay station somewhere."

"And here you are." Pina did not want to ask about all the looting and pillaging that came with it. Those questions would come a later time.

"Yeah. Funny how things can go so...differently."

"Your commander—I mean, your former superior... He..." How should she say this? Pina struggled to find the words.

"He told you. I know. Everyone knows the story."

"Your own troops apparently didn't."

The soldier laughed and the princess smirked. "They...they're a special bunch, I guess."

"So are mine. My knights—Hamilton, Bozes, Beofetra—they're family to me. I grew up with them. We trained together and...well, we always look out for each other." She did not mean to open up to him. In her mind, Pina rebuked herself for being forward.

Tami beamed at her. "I guess that is something we both have in common."

Pina caught his sideways glance before he flashed her a wide grin and said, "Good night, your highness. Maybe tomorrow we can chat more." Then he departed to his quarters, leaving her alone on the balcony.

For the rest of the hour that she spent admiring the view, she could not help but feel off. She was being watched but by who? The monastery itself was built on the top of a rugged mountain, terrain that would severely hamper the approach of an enemy from every flank. Pina shook her head, laughed at how silly she was being, and retired into her room for the night, completely ignoring Komadai peering through lit window two floors above at the band of observant mercenaries who had melded into the snowy shadows below.

* * *

 **ORIGINALLY DRAFTED: December 15, 2017**

 **LAST EDITED: December 19, 2017**

 **INITIALLY UPLOADED: December 19, 2017**

 **NOTE: It's getting a bit difficult not to depart from Pina's perspective. Also, there will be some politics later on (after all, the real Mongol Empire fragmented because of politics, hidden agendas, and overambitious khans).**

 **Anyway, leave a review to let me know what you think. Feedback helps. :)**


	8. Contingency

**NOTE: (Belated) Happy New Year, folks!**

* * *

Pina woke to shouting in the courtyard. She had barely slid off her bed when a keshig forced open the door to her room and yelled something indiscernible. She only gave him a confused look to which he grit his teeth, snapped his head to the corridor, and gestured wildly at her.

The princess immediately recognized the noise echoing through the walls: clanging steel, grunting, screaming, flesh rending. She raised her palm at her escort and quickly donned her robes. She slipped on her boots, hurriedly wrapped herself in her overcoat and followed her escort down to the monastery's preaching hall where her knights and three more guardsmen were waiting.

"Your highness!" Hamilton cried, wrapping her arms around her. "Thank the gods, you're safe!"

"The monastery is under attack," Bozes reported.

"Are you all alright?" Pina asked.

Beofetra nodded. "We are in good shape, your highness."

Meanwhile, in contrast to the keshigs frantically moving about, switching from window to window, checking every opening with their sabers in their hands, the monks calmly filed past in straight lines. There was some form of communication between them and the guardsmen. Komadai appeared shortly thereafter, blood spattered over his armor but no visible injuries on his person so far.

Pina responded to his barking. The cherbi flicked his head to the wicket he emerged out of. The princess could see Tuka peeking through and waving at them to follow. "Your highness! This way!"

The Saderan entourage quickly wormed their way into a catwalk that offered a striking view of the battle that was raging in the wide frozen courtyard of the monastery. Surprise overcame them, not at the keshigs vehemently fighting off the scores of equally equipped mercenaries and assassins, but at the fighting prowess of the clearly unarmed monks who beat off wave after wave of foes with only their fists and heels. Even more frightening was the display put on by the Oracle herself as she cleaved her way through masses of bodies with her halberd with incomparable agility.

"Your highness, we should keep moving," Tuka reminded them.

"What about Tami?" Pina demanded.

"They have gone ahead," the elf replied before apologetically tugging at her arm. "We should go before they notice us!"

Needless to say, they managed to skirt the bloodletting. After a tedious march through the pounding snow, past the monastery's sheltered gardens, and a rather numbing experience with an iced cliff face, the group had rendezvoused with the rest of their escorts by the main gantry. Tami had already taken the reins of the first coach that rode out of the stables—a small yurt tied securely onto a wide multi-wheeled wagon.

"Everyone, get in!" he bellowed.

Pina clamored atop the cart, pushing the wooden door inward and letting her knights enter first. "Where are we going?" she hollered over the deafening winds.

"Detour! To Dadu!"

"Where is that?" Hamilton queried.

"In the Great Yuan," Lelei answered calmly, herself comfortably seated inside the cushioned tent. "The largest Mongol subject."

"And what about Komadai?" Beofetra added.

"He will be coming around with the rearguard. The monks have pledged to contain the crisis." The mage looked somewhat impressed when she mentioned the silent bald men who had proven themselves capable in a fight.

"What just happened?" Pina finally asked as she felt the carriage rumble over the rugged terrain. Amazingly, the yurt had been fastened so securely that she began to feel less concerned about their shelter being ripped apart by the tempest.

"Assassins," Tuka replied coldly.

The princess knew she should not be surprised. "Trying to impede negotiations?"

"News of the Gate has reached the far corners of the world here," Lelei explained. "The Mongols' allies and enemies are aware of us."

"That makes us a target then for hawks," Hamilton concluded.

Pina settled against her cushion, wrapping herself in another tanned pelt. This foreign land was beginning to feel like home. "Lovely."

* * *

She did not know how long she had been napping but when she woke up, she could still feel the wagon moving underneath her. Most of her company were asleep, leaving only Tuka and Lelei idling in their little corner. The elf was readjusting the string on her bow while the young mage appeared deep in thought with her staff snuggled tightly between her arms and legs.

Pina crawled to the entrance and peeked her head. The winds died down slightly as they were still high up in the mountains. She could see two more carriages behind them, accompanied by the keshigs, half of whom were scratched and wounded. A train of horses trailed behind with their horses—thank the gods they managed to save them—towering over most of the smaller equines. She turned on her side and saw Tami sharing the reins with another driver. It was still dark but the stars and the moon illuminated parts of the landscape: lots of snow and rock hidden under the mist. The terrain was less rugged than before with the plain of a valley coming into view.

The princess wordlessly retreated inside the yurt. She caught Lelei deflecting her gaze as she shuffled towards her. "Do you know anything about where we're going?"

"Your highness?"

"Dadu, right?"

The mage nodded. "According to the soldiers, Dadu is the center of culture and arts for the whole empire. I don't know the details but they say that artistry and literature flourish there more than anywhere else."

"It'll be like a vacation," intoned the suddenly cheery wood elf.

"Komadai wanted to press on to another relay station further north," Lelei continued, "but some of the other soldiers argued that it could have most likely fallen to our assailants. Tami suggested passing through Dadu. They debated over it for a while."

"So what made him give in?" Pina asked.

"Komadai only agreed because Dadu is the summer retreat of the Khagan."

"That means increased security," Tuka added. "Which also means lots of troops there all year round."

The princess did not expect that assessment from her. "How can you be so sure?"

The elf shrugged. "Just a guess. Who knows? If the city is as wonderful as its reputation, then the Mongol emperor would surely send an army to guard his jewel of the south."

Pina slowly nodded. Tuka seemed to have a keen mind in these matters. Surprising for a wood elf whose people were known for their neutrality, often restricting themselves to the vast forests south of Falmart, far from the battle plans and political scheming rife in the more populous areas of the Saderan Empire.

* * *

 _Five days later..._

Dadu was indeed a marvelous city filled with lights, aromas, and a lively population that seemed to never sleep. While their journey was mostly uneventful, they had arrived at to the capital of the Great Yuan during heightened festivities. The evening sky was constantly being bombarded by a deafening menagerie of moving colors. Pina felt her jaw go slack upon seeing the people here sending off magic balls of fire into the heavens, hooting and celebrating.

"Harvest season, it seems," Lelei remarked. "I'm not sure."

The princess flinched a bit after another of their so-called 'fire-works' burst above them, releasing a cone of yellow and orange sparks that dissipated as quickly as they appeared. "How...interesting."

The armed procession meandered through the city streets, amid merrymakers and curious crowds, shuffling passed street demonstrations including several young men dancing to music under the paper skin of a decorated serpentine dragon. It was as much a tour of the city as it was navigating their way through 'safe' thoroughfares until they reached the provincial palace, another sprawling administrative estate bearing near similar architecture to the buildings in Goryeo.

The court of the Great Yuan was just as extravagant as the court of the Kingdom of Goryeo. Unlike Gesong, however, the provincial authority was dominated almost entirely by their northern overlords with the Yuan governor himself being a Mongol.

Pina, leading the Saderan delegation, bowed modestly before them. The governor, upon learning the details from Komadai, was controllably excited at their presence, inviting accessorized entertainers to perform plays while they feasted. During the banquet, the princess noticed the main actor—dressed in full military garb and rather skillfully dancing with a sharpened wooden sword—constantly throwing glances at the Gate veterans across from them.

What sounded like jeering reached her ears, making Pina focus on the opposite table. Tami sat stone-faced while he looked to be heckled by his own subordinates and fellow soldiers. In the center table, Komadai and the governor shared a private conversation while keeping their eyes on the performers who continued to wordlessly mimic some kind of battle, synchronized with the musicians pounding on their drums and cymbals.

"This scene is rather intense," Beofetra observed, a finger tapping her bottom lip.

Bozes and Hamilton hummed agreement. "This amount of swordplay...such skill not to gore your partner with that speed," the former added.

A sudden rush took over as the music accelerated. Gasps echoed among the crowd as the protagonist barely avoided a potentially lethal stab from his partner. Standing on his toes, he gracefully disarmed his opponent, drawing in audible hums of adoration. Pina caught his pupils directly meeting hers then darting towards the other members of the audience. It was fleeting but there was something in those hazel eyes that struck her as...odd.

"He seems to be trying to impress the keshigs, your highness," Lelei remarked over the din of conversation.

Pina glanced between the mage and the dominant thespian who continued throwing cursory glimpses at the soldiers. Or more specifically Tami. "Could be an old acquaintance of theirs, perhaps."

The mage nodded, flanked by an enraptured Tuka and a subtly impressed Oracle. It was later on, after the final act of the play, Pina caught the lead actor's gaze idle briefly on Tami before retreating with the rest of the performers behind the stage.

* * *

The princess and her knights found them in the palatial gardens. Having followed Lelei who was following Tuka who was strolling alongside the Oracle, they happened upon a curious scene on the gazebo standing on an islet in the center of the vast pond. The group stopped short of the the bridge that spanned over the water, watching from the dark while the many lanterns illuminated the pair in front of them.

A petite young woman, who shared nearly the same height as the Oracle, with auburn hair draped in richly colored robes and tassels stood beside Tami who hunched over the bannister, flicking petals into the water. The peacefulness of the late evening made their conversation audible but indiscernible.

Then they noticed them. The woman smiled while Tami was somewhat mortified.

"She's pretty," Tuka opined.

"Who is she?" the Oracle asked.

A close friend maybe, Pina did not say.

The woman sat on the bench in the gazebo, her hands timidly folded on top of her lap, while Tami crossed the bridge towards them. "I didn't expect to see you all here," he greeted.

"Sorry for intruding," apologized the wood elf.

"We were just passing through..." Bozes stopped when the former keshig made a dejected wave.

Pina looked across the pond, somehow sensing the warmth radiating from the lady on the other side. "Tami, I...I'm sorry. We should not be intruding."

He shook his head. "No, no. It's fine." He gestured at them to follow him. "Come. I'll introduce you."

The Saderans eyed each other before falling in step. The princess was rather abashed when the woman made a full bow, letting a few loose strands of her hair fall over her face. Illuminated by the lamps on the posts, she could see her better. And that was she recognized the roundness of her cheeks, her pinkish lips, her hazel eyes...

"She was the main _actress_?" Pina spurted.

"She is my wife," Tami said sheepishly. "Her name is Ri Xia."

* * *

 **ORIGINALLY DRAFTED: December 20, 2017**

 **LAST EDITED: January 6, 2018**

 **INITIALLY UPLOADED: January 2, 2018**

 **NOTE: I need to some more reading on the status of women in Yuan China. It's fun, though. The more I write this story, the more I have to read up, research, and learn about the history, culture, and society of the peoples in the Mongol Empire. It's a learning experience. :D**

 **Again, if anyone can offer better insights on the above mentioned topics, please let me know. I like to be precise with historical details (even though this fic is ahistorical).**


	9. The Actress and the Nobleman

**NOTE: Thank you for the feedback and the continued support. _Salamat mga pre._ :)**

* * *

There was something about Ri Xia that had Pina on edge. Having grown up in a bloody political environment, she had honed the ability to screen the true personalities from the surface. She could tell that there was something underneath the modesty of this actress that nipped at her.

Following their meek conversation in the gazebo—which was Tami mostly trying to dodge intimate questions thrown by Tuka and the Oracle much to his wife's amusement—they were sequestered back into the palace by the keshigs. Komadai had imposed a stricter curfew following the incident at the monastery.

"You have a private bath chamber in the east wing," the cherbi informed them via Lelei. "For the sake of decency, I will not post guards outside the door. Don't drown yourselves."

Pina saw Tami and Ri Xia exchange words before they separated, the former rejoining his comrades chafing at him from down the corridor with the latter retreating to her private chambers. The princess wondered how Tami's subordinates thought of his wife because, judging from their rather animated behavior, it appeared they were in disbelief that he was even married.

* * *

The palace bathhouse was in many ways similar to the balineae at home, the only difference being the architecture—bamboo walls, dwarfed trees, and intricate garden landscapes surrounded the bean-shaped pool. For most of her life, Pina bathed in her own personal tub, often with maidens standing by to hold her garments. The experience of sharing a bath with her fellow knights without any servants present was not something new to her though. Then again, it was not everyday that she had this opportunity.

It did take them awhile to get comfortable with sharing the pool with an adolescent mage, a wood elf, and the Oracle who they all knew was the oldest among them despite her timeless youth.

"It has been a long time since I have encountered a kingdom that could effectively eclipse yours, princess," remarked the Disciple of Emroy.

Pina knew to respect the ( _opinions_ ) counsel of the chosen Disciples of the gods. Also because she feared them, especially after seeing one carve through whole legions with ease. So she nodded. "I always believed there would be greater powers than ours."

"How do you expect to go about your meeting with their emperor?"

Weeks of thinking that through yielded many approaches, none of which she was sure would help. The princess stared at her reflection in the water, unable to word a proper answer.

"Her highness can manage," Bozes answered for her.

The rattan door on the top of the steps slid open, causing them to nearly jump out of the water.

"They said you would all be here," Ri Xia greeted as she carefully slid the door shut. She quickly but gracefully unwrapped her bathrobe and dipped into the pool. Her bare elfin frame contrasted the illusion of the great warrior she so convincingly portrayed. "We have our own baths but it is nice to enjoy the company of foreigners."

"Y-you know Saderan?" Hamilton sputtered.

"Everyone knows about the people of the Gate," the actress replied. "There are scholars who have already published books about you. I spent three months studying your culture and learning your tongue."

"May we ask why?" Beofetra asked.

Ri Xia had a strong air of gentleness about her with her posture and her smile even as she provided them with an even answer. "My husband was sent to your lands. Should I not be worried?"

Pina found it difficult to believe that underneath all that heavy armor, the thick cosmetics, and the wooden swords and bows was a delicate young lady radiating high societal standards. She took a moment to accept that this petite feminine body could be agile enough to skirt around thrusts and stabs while balanced only on the tip of her toes. Perhaps those heroic epics she grew up watching in the amphitheaters back home had actually been performed by women.

"Pardon us for inquiring," Tuka said. "How long have you been married?"

"Two years."

"Do you have any children?" came the next question. From the Oracle.

Ri Xia giggled. "We have not tried much." Then she sighed. "It is not easy being married to a soldier. He is always away. When he is home, his mind is elsewhere."

The princess could feel her curiosity edging at the tip of her lips.

The thespian continued, "It was a marriage of convenience."

Pina could easily read the sadness in her eyes. For an actress whose skill was of some renown in this land, it was significant to allow genuine emotion to so easily betray her facade. Especially in front of diplomats from an enemy country.

"Tami..." Ri Xia paused to steady her breathing despite the crystals in her eyes, "We knew each other when we were children... He offered me a home on the condition that I care for it. It was not very intimate at first... But as time passed, it...I...I have always loved him. I don't know if he feels the same way."

"You are brave for sharing something like this to us," the princess imparted.

"You are here for an audience with the Khagan, are you not?"

All the Saderans gave the actress their full attention with Pina managing a controlled mien. "So you know."

"Tami is my husband after all." Ri Xia wiped her tears away. Her eyes now gleamed with a fierce determination. "The Khagan is one man whose word is absolute yet can be swayed by the words of a few. It is the Kurultai you should be wary of."

"They are divided," Hamilton prodded. "The hawks and the doves."

The actress nodded. "Tami told me about your escape from the monastery. Those men were surely acting under the orders of some of the _khans_."

"The ' _khans_ '?"

"Leaders of the Mongol states, the _khanates_. The governors of the provinces within the khanates submit directly to them. They are warlords in another sense. Many of them are experienced generals who would want nothing more than to treat your kingdom the way they treat their subjects."

Pina did not show her trepidation at that. "Subjugation, isn't it?"

"You are a prize. A bargaining piece. If they cannot get you, they will kill you. The same goes for my husband as well. And for all the other soldiers who were summoned to testify before the Khagan. That is how things work here."

"Surely the Khagan can exercise restraint on them," Bozes argued.

Ri Xia shook her head. "If he was as old as them. The Khagan is only a decade older than my husband. He has been on the throne for only five years."

That was alarming. For the past couple weeks that they had been in the company of the Mongols, they were made aware early on (though not intentionally) that the Khagan was a fresh prince who had inherited his father's throne. Much like Pina, he was a man devoted to preserving Mongol hegemony. And much like her, he was keen on monitoring the expansionist tendencies of his subordinates. Or so she was told.

"Fortune smiles on you," Ri Xia continued. "The Khagan boasts an open mind. He would undoubtedly be willing to listen to your cause. The Kurultai, however, is a herd of stubborn oxen and they will do their very best to aggravate the war. If you can win over the Khagan, you might stand a solid chance of holding back the horde."

"Why are you telling us all this?" Beofetra coolly interrogated.

The actress gave her a knowing look. "I want to save my husband from this butchery. He is the world to me. He may not see our marriage beyond convenience but that will not stop me from trying to keep him alive."

Pina breathed before speaking. "So you're willing to risk everything, even your position"—a histrionic exclusive to the provincial court spoke volumes—"to save Tami and, in effect, save my people and yours from further bloodshed."

Ri Xia nodded. "I regularly perform for the Khagan and his court during the summer. On some winters, my troupe is even summoned to Karakorum. I have seen them all. Their behaviors do not change."

The princess took in the people in the pool. Her knights eyed her curiously. Lelei and Tuka waited silently while the Oracle remained impassively attentive. Pina waded towards the actress, sitting beside her and startling her out of her melancholy. She let her palm rest over her shoulder. "Ri Xia, right?"

Another nod.

"What are you offering?"

The actress beamed. "Let me help you appease the Kurultai. I can teach you ways to silence them. It takes more than emotion in your words to melt their black stone hearts. You are a princess with experience in politics. I am sure you would find all these things easier to grasp..."

By the end of the night, Pina could draw many similarities between the Mongol noyans and the Saderan senators. Her task of diplomacy felt easier somewhat.

* * *

Come dawn the following day, Pina encountered a lax Komadai lounging against the wall outside of her quarters. Lelei was standing beside him, the concern in her eyes betraying her general nonchalance.

"The cherbi wants you to know that he could arrest Ri Xia for treason."

The princess felt her breath hitch. "Tell him—"

Komadai held up his hand and said something to Lelei, his sharp obsidian pupils grounded on Pina. "I will not do anything. I will ignore her liaison with you," the mage translated. "Do not expect any more favors."

"T-thank you," she stammered.

"Your highness, in addition, you are being summoned," Lelei said as Komadai leaned back. "He is highly regarded among the Kurultai and he specifically asked for you by name."

Pina held back little surprise. This was an interesting development and one that made her anxious. "May my knights accompany me?"

The cherbi nodded then walked out of earshot. The princess could never tell whether he was helping her over sympathy or because of Tami.

* * *

Their host was a man of near equal stature to Komadai only slightly stouter, more rugged, and clearly weighted in years. His ornate robes were tailored to display authority through the simplest decor and the emblems he wore on his person expressed his range of authority. Most likely a retired general, given the militaristic culture of the Mongols. Pina and the Scarlet Rose bowed reverently only to receive a cursory bow from him.

He gestured at the cushioned matts lining the edges of the low table where the servants prepared tea and breakfast. Lelei seated herself on to the far right.

"Greetings," she translated for him. His voice was jovial and gruff. "I am Tasubai, chief of the Yuan khanate. I apologize for not being present on your arrival for I was advising our subjects elsewhere. It is good to finally meet you, Princess Pina Co Lada of Sadera."

"I warmly return the greetings, Tasubai," Pina replied with a curt smile despite the pounding in her chest. Facing the Senate felt far easier than facing a significant member of the Kurultai who was _willing_ to communicate with her in person.

Tasubai took a sip of his tea with the gentry of a wealthy merchantman despite sitting as rigid as a sentry. "I have heard much about you. The governors commend you for your journey. However, one cannot win an argument against many. You are brave, honorable, and out of your wits for coming here on your own initiative."

"I do what I must to preserve the lives of my people," she answered evenly.

The man nodded at the servants to leave the room. As soon as the doors slid closed, his gaze steeled. "Convince me why I should not stay silent in the Kurultai."

Now this was completely unexpected, Pina screamed in her head. Her anxiety flared into a full panic despite her composure. Glancing at Hamilton, Bozes, Beofetra, and then an enviously unaffected Lelei, she collected her breath and met his glare with her own. She did not know who this man was or high how he sat among his peers but she was going to give her very best to win him over. "With all due respect, Tasubai, I am sure you would know from your experience that there would be nothing to gain if we are to continue hostilities."

The moment lingered in silence with Tasubai neither unmoved nor unimpressed. Pina hoped that Lelei's translation carried the same weight.

She continued, "My people are stubborn. They will fight to the death. They will be willing to hammer their plowshares into axes and their hooks into spears. They will pledge to drag two of yours to the underworld with them when they fall. Would you be willing to squander valuable resources and manpower over a territory that would refuse to yield?"

"Your point?" he enjoined.

"We will bleed each other dry. All for nothing. And in the end, the Gate will close, trapping your troops in our lands. When that day comes, we will heal while your men will starve without a lifeline to your world." She did not mean to come off as aggressive. Her father and brothers did rub off on her.

Tasubai suddenly laughed. "It would take more than threats to sway me, princess. But you impress me. Even when the shepherd rakes his yoke over your neck, you still heave. You are better than the cowards I have faced in my lifetime."

Pina gulped. Was that a compliment or a threat? "Thank you, Tasubai."

"You're welcome. I hope you will do better than that at Karakorum. I can only support you to an extent," The surprise on her face amused him. "You have keen insight. I admit that we have enough problems as it is here in our lands. Why burden ourselves even more?"

The princess wanted to break out a wide grin. "Then we both share the same understanding."

"Princess Pina, I have been leading my armies for thirty years. I have mentored many of the fools who now stand in the Kurultai. They are young and eager and the actions of your generals have instigated a desire for retribution." Tasubai smiled and offered her the porcelain plates with biscuits and slices of damp vegetables in fermented crimson sauce. "I am but one of many noyans. It is best that you hope and pray to your gods that the Khagan will listen to my counsel over theirs."

"Thank you, dearly, sir."

A warm, haughty laugh. "I am not your superior, young lady." He gestured at the food on her plate. "Please. Eat."

Pina, Lelei, and the Scarlet Rose knights thoroughly enjoyed their breakfast that morning with Tasubai regaling them with folk tales of the steppe peoples.

* * *

 **ORIGINALLY DRAFTED: January 3, 2018**

 **LAST EDITED: January 8, 2018**

 **INITIALLY UPLOADED: January 6, 2018**

 **NOTE: A few more chapters and we'll be rounding back to the scene that started this story. And for those who want more action, I'm sorry but it's going to take awhile. Diplomacy comes first before the clashing of steel. Can't have one side steamroll the other so quickly. ;)**


End file.
